


Livin’ In Winter (I Am Your Summer)

by Aerica_Menai



Series: Lamen Pride 'verse [2]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Ace!Laurent, Baking, Covid-19 Related, Lamen Week 2020, M/M, Pride 2020, aroace!Nik, bi!Damen, mildly, pan!Ancel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerica_Menai/pseuds/Aerica_Menai
Summary: With Pride parades cancelled due to COVID, Damen decides to celebrate by experimenting with Pride-themed desserts instead.
Relationships: Damen & Nikandros (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Series: Lamen Pride 'verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797874
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31
Collections: Lamen Week 2020





	Livin’ In Winter (I Am Your Summer)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Lamen Week 2020 Modern!AU prompt!
> 
> Beta'd by the ever-wonderful @grayraincurtain <3
> 
> Title from Me! by Taylor Swift

In the wake of the quarantine and the importance behind it, Laurent and Damen both understood why pride parades were cancelled across the country; that didn’t mean they weren’t disappointed. So they were trying to make the best of a bad situation, coming up with smaller ways to celebrate the month. 

Sometime in the last week of May (who could bother to remember exact days anymore?), Damen Skyped Laurent with a huge grin on his face. “I had the best idea! Well. Technically Nik had the best idea, but I’m the one who gets to do it, so who’s the real winner here?”

Laurent blinked at him in confusion. “Aaand…what was the best idea?”

“Right – I was talking to Nik about how I wished there was a better way to celebrate Pride – “

“More like moaning,” Nik interjected from off-screen.

“ – Lies and slander, Nik, lies and slander! In any case, he suggested that maybe I should try new baking recipes based on pride themes – that way the bakery could get some promotion even while the doors are closed and I could keep myself busy with the baking!”

“That’s…actually a really good idea,” Laurent replied.

“I’m offended that you sound so surprised!” came Nik’s miffed response.

Laurent rolled his eyes and changed the subject. “So do you have any ideas yet?”

Damen beamed. “I’m going to start with a bi-berry tart, then the only aro-themed dessert I could think of, key lime pie…and I’m wracking my brain for an ace recipe so that can shoot to the top of the queue!”

Laurent flushed. “You sap,” he muttered. He hesitated before continuing. “I have heard of an ace cake that sounded…kinda interesting, but I’m not sure how easy it’ll actually be to make…”

Damen straightened in his seat. “A challenge would be good! What was it?”

“I think it was called blueberry lemon cheesecake? Something like that. If it’s the right one, it has a dark jelly layer on top.”

“Blueberry…cheesecake…jelly…layer,” Damen muttered as he scribbled. “I’ll look into it!”

Laurent smiled. “Enjoy your baking, you nerd,” he responded fondly. 

“Will do!” Damen smiled cheekily before signing off.

*~*

The first dessert posted on the bakery’s website – and new Instagram – was the Bi-Berry Tart Damen had mentioned: blueberries and raspberries on top of a traditional custard tart, with a purple drizzle to complete the color scheme. The recipe link in the Instagram post led back to the bakery webpage with the details. 

While the Instagram post was popular enough, the website’s traffic stayed pretty much the same. 

“Alright,” Damen muttered sulkily on his call with Laurent the next day, “I guess Nik was right and that was a pretty ambitious recipe to start with.”

“Maybe something easier next?” Laurent suggested. “Like – pancakes! Maybe a pan color scheme for pancakes?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Damen grumbled. “But if the traffic spike isn’t big enough, I’m just doing the recipes I want to and Nik can stuff it.”

Laurent chuckled. “Fair enough.”

*~*

The Pan-cakes (blueberry and banana pancakes with strawberry whipped cream) were indeed a bigger hit than the tart, but the website hits only increased a little bit; little enough that Nik threw up his hands and let Damen do whatever he wanted. 

Damen did decide to post an easy recipe after that (a Neopoli-trans Sundae, blueberry and vanilla ice cream with the same strawberry whipped cream from the pancakes), but similarly the website traffic hitch was barely noticeable, so Damen decided to go back to his original plan.

The next dessert was the Aro Lime Pie: key lime filling in an Oreo crust, with whipped cream and a gray arrow of icing on top, quickly followed by the Blueberry Lemon Ch-ace-cake (a layer of regular cheesecake, topped with a layer of blueberry cheesecake and then a layer of black jelly). The cheesecake was surprisingly popular (and Damen had already promised Laurent he would make it again for him once everything opened up), especially considering that the key lime pie basically flew almost entirely under the radar. 

“It’s because not very many people like key lime pie, Damen,” Laurent sighed. “Maybe try something else that would include the aro pride colors?”

Damen propped his chin on his fist. “Hmm. The green is the hardest part…”

“Matcha!” came Nik’s voice from offscreen.

Damen sat up. “Ooh, yeah, I forgot how much you like matcha – you willing to make another grocery run in the next couple days?” Damen asked excitedly.

Nik grumbled but affirmed that he would. 

Damen grinned at Laurent. “I guess I have some ideas to work with now,” he beamed. “Although I was hoping that more people would have submitted ideas like the website suggests,” he sighed. 

“Alright, I have an idea then,” Ancel spoke up, appearing behind Laurent. “Make me a pan-themed dessert that isn’t pancakes and has mangoes in it, for your yellow. Pancakes and bananas are lazy, Damen!”

Damen laughed as Laurent groaned at the audacity of his roommate. “Alright, Ancel, you’re on!”

Ancel gave him a thumbs up before going back to wherever he came from; Laurent internally bemoaned the ever-increasing lack of boundaries between himself and his roommates before refocusing on Damen. “Sounds like you have a couple ideas to juggle now.”

Damen beamed. “I do! I should go brainstorm – I’ll talk to you later!”

*~*

Laurent was surprised to see that the next dessert was not aro-themed and including matcha; instead, it was Ancel’s challenge: a Tropical Pan-fait, layers of mango, pink dragonfruit and something called jabuticaca separated by the strawberry whipped cream Damen seemed to have endless supplies of. 

Ancel was delighted with Damen’s concoction, cackling after Damen reported with a wrinkled nose that the dessert looked much better than it tasted. And the Pan-fait was much more popular than the Pan-cakes, people commenting on the more original take on the pun and on the food choices. “Ancel may be a pain in the ass, but his idea was definitely a good one,” Damen admitted to Laurent. 

“So what’s next?” Laurent asked.

“It’s a surprise,” Damen replied. “Admittedly partially because I’m having a bit of trouble and don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up if this fails spectacularly.”

Laurent chuckled. “Fair enough, but I don’t think there’s a dessert recipe yet that you’ve failed to figure out somehow.”

“You’re sweet, but this one may be it,” Damen sighed. “Like I said, we’ll see.”

*~*

It took another three days, but finally the bakery’s website updated: Damen had created aro-colored mochi, in black sesame, matcha and lychee flavors.

It was quickly followed by ace-colored (taro, black sesame and lychee) and rainbow-colored (red bean paste, orange, lemon, matcha, blueberry and taro) mochi. 

The rainbow-colored mochi was the one that blew up on social media.

“Of course,” Damen grumbled, “only after I succumb to what’s mainstream and popular do they decide to take notice.”

Laurent shrugged. “It’s the way of the world. How happy is Nik?”

“Pretty incandescent at the numbers, even if he’s a little bitter about none of the others getting the same amount of attention, even now.”

“Yeah, that does suck,” Laurent sympathized.

Damen sighed before smiling widely. “I will say, I’m proud that I figured out making the mochi! Not to mention that all the pounding and crushing and everything was pretty cathartic.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize making mochi was so…involved.”

Damen shrugged. “Like I said, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do it at first.”

Laurent smiled. “But you did!”

“I did,” Damen cheered, throwing his hands up.

Laurent chuckled at his boyfriend’s antics. “Do you have any plans for more desserts?”

Damen sighed. “Honestly, there are so many ideas I have, but I’m just…tired. If I get more requests I’ll do my best, but right now – I’m happy to keep refining the recipes I’ve already tried. I’m wondering if there’s a way to make that Tropical Pan-fait more palatable…” he muttered to himself.

Laurent hummed thoughtfully. He hadn’t posted about his boyfriend’s efforts on his Tumblr yet, but it was probably high time – see if any of his followers had ideas to submit.

For now, though, he was happy to let Damen relax a little, take a break from his efforts. There would be more time later, and – hopefully – a new dessert menu at the bakery for next year’s Pride.

**Author's Note:**

> I had trouble thinking of more Pride desserts to add, so if you have an idea, please feel free to comment; if I get enough, I'm happy to add another chapter with them!


End file.
